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Amusement park claims another victim

A young woman died in an accident on a gyrating ride with a deadly history at a landmark amusement park, a police spokesman said.

By JENNIFER PELTZAssociated Press

Sat., June 30, 2007

NEW YORK – A young woman died in an accident on a gyrating ride with a deadly history at a landmark amusement park, a police spokesman said.

The woman was killed while riding the Mind Scrambler around 9:30 p.m. Friday at Playland Amusement Park in Rye, N.Y., said Westchester County Police spokesman Kieran O'Leary.

Emergency workers responded quickly, but "but there wasn't very much anybody could do for her," O'Leary said. The woman, who was in her 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.

Police were investigating early Saturday, and no details about the circumstances of the accident were available. The woman's name was not released because authorities were working to notify her family, and it was not known whether she was riding the Mind Scrambler alone or with friends, O'Leary said.

The indoor attraction spins riders around in a darkened tent with flashing lights. It was the scene of another fatal accident on May 22, 2004, when 7-year-old Stephanie Dieudonne wriggled free of the restraining bar on one of the cars, knelt on the seat and fell soon after the ride started, according to investigators.

The amusement park was not cited for any violations or required to make improvements to the ride after the girl's death, but officials announced plans to add seat belts, more lighting and a second attendant at the Mind Scrambler.

Friday's accident marked the fourth fatality in as many years at the county-owned Playland, a National Historic Landmark that opened in 1928. After the Mind Scrambler accident in 2004, a 7-year-old boy was killed the following year when he climbed out of his boat ride and fell, according to investigators. A 43-year-old man drowned after wading into a lake at the park on July 4, 2006.

The park's director and a spokesman for the county Department of Parks, Recreation & Conservation, which oversees Playland, did not immediately return telephone messages left at their offices late Friday.

The Mind Scrambler and a nearby section of the amusement park were closed after the accident, but other areas remained open, O'Leary said.

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